Survival games are one of the most popular video game genres of recent years; their simple and addictive gameplay loops, focus on exploration, and often-included multiplayer interaction make the genre a particularly unique one.

Due to their often open-world nature, survival games are typically large endeavors, but indie developers still manage to create detailed and expansive experiences. This list includes games from small development teams all the way to independent studios, with every game on this list being relatively affordable at the time of writing.

10 Pathologic - A game about being a plague doctor

Steam User Rating: 88%

This story-driven single-player survival game features a dark, creepy, and grim aesthetic; the colors of its environments, the music, the writing, and the characters of the world all work in tandem to unsettle the player.

Related

Best Games That Let You Be A Doctor

Some games out there will allow players to be a doctor, and these games are the best among them.

Pathologic is more focused on its narrative than its survival elements, but its gameplay is built around a survival game skeleton; the plagued town in which Pathologic is set is completely open-world, and the game encourages players to explore in order to stay well-fed and keep their immune system strong.

9 NEO Scavenger - A survival game roguelike

Steam User Rating: 89%

This post-apocalyptic roguelike RPG may not look like much on the surface, but its gameplay is full of deep simulation and complex mechanics that force players to make tough decisions as they fail over and over against the game's steep learning curve.

NEO Scavenger may be a roguelike with its randomized map, turn-based gameplay, and permanent death, but its gameplay loop is firmly focused on survival game mechanics. Players must worry about hunger, thirst, weather, and even a realistic wound system. NEO Scavenger is ridiculously brutal and unforgiving, and its roguelike nature won't be for every survival game fan. However, it's a great game for those that enjoy a challenge.

8 Space Trash Scavenger - A deep-space survival game

Steam User Rating: 91%

In this science fiction indie game, players salvage floating debris and titular space trash from their zero-gravity surroundings in order to build their base and survive in the harsh environments of space. Space Trash Scavenger has a great, cartoon visual style and even features light trading mechanics.

Related

7 Best Soft Sci-Fi Games

The following games are must-plays for fans of soft sci-fi.

On top of the usual resource gathering, crafting, and base-building gameplay of the average survival game, Space Trash Scavenger also has players defending their ever-expanding space rig from hostile aliens.

7 The Long Dark - A harsh and slow-burning experience

Steam User Rating: 91%

The Long Dark is bereft of any fictional monsters or creatures, instead tasking the player with surviving in harsh, cold environments and conditions, with nature itself being the player's worst enemy.

While there are wolves and bears present in The Long Dark's world, players must also worry about keeping warm and staying well-fed, among other things. Because of this, traveling is an arduous task, and shelter is of the utmost importance to survival. The Long Dark's aspects of simulation and focus on quiet, slow-burning gameplay make it a particularly unique survival game.

6 Raft - Survival on the open seas

Steam User Rating: 93%

Starting with nothing but a small, basic raft and a rudimentary hook, Raft tasks players with pulling in the surrounding flotsam and odd trash in order to expand their raft into a fully-fledged base. Raft also has online co-op, allowing players to build up their base and explore the open seas together.

Raft features a crafting system, underwater exploration, farming mechanics, and combat, but what makes it so unique is its combination of base building and exploration through sailing. Due to the nature of the game, the player's raft doubles as both a base and a boat, making exploration and travel an intuitive task that rarely gets boring.

5 Project Zomboid - A heavily simulated zombie survival game

Steam User Rating: 94%

This open-world zombie survival game was released all the way back in 2013 and remains one of the oldest Early Access titles on Steam. However, despite its long journey through Early Access, Project Zomboid is a game that has received constant development by the indie team behind it.

Related

10 Best Sandbox Simulation Games

Games that combine simulation with the freedom of a sandbox environment can be fun for hours. These are some of the best.

Project Zomboid is a simulation-heavy survival game from a top-down perspective in which players must explore, craft, and gather resources in order to survive. Hordes of flesh-eating zombies roam the streets of the game's suburban towns, and a single bite can end an entire run. Project Zomboid is one of the most unforgiving games on this list, in part due to how easy it is to get trapped and killed by a horde of zombies, and also because players have so many simulated elements to worry about; hunger, thirst, happiness, shelter, wounds, and even infection must all be dealt with quickly and efficiently if players are to survive in Zomboid's hostile world.

4 The Forest - A combination of classic survival and horror

Steam User Rating: 95%

This horror survival game sees players surviving in a cannibal-infested forest after surviving a plane crash. The Forest tasks players with building a base, exploring the open world, and defending themselves from the mutated cannibals that dwell in it.

The Forest distinguishes itself from other survival games with its horror elements, making it perfectly playable in single-player and arguably less scary when played in the game's online co-op. The Forest also features light stealth elements, allowing players to avoid combat.

3 Valheim - A Viking-themed fantasy

Steam User Rating: 95%

This game takes place in a Viking-themed fantasy setting full of creatures to hunt and fight and varied environments to explore. The game can be played solo, but Valheim is best played with friends in online multiplayer, exploring, building, fighting, and surviving together.

Valheim is unique for its setting, as well as its solid combat system and sailing mechanics. Valheim's construction mechanics are also more than competent, allowing players to build impressive bases to store loot and rest after a long journey.

2 Don't Starve - A 2D, top-down experience

Steam User Rating: 96%

This iconic top-down indie survival game from Klei Entertainment (Griftlands, Hot Lava, Oxygen Not Included) features a uniquely haunting art style, harsh environments, and various hostile creatures to fend off.

Don't Starve is rather unforgiving, and players must constantly worry about hunger as they craft items, build a base, and explore the game's open world. There's a variety of characters to play, places to explore, and tricks to uncover, making Don't Starve one of the most replayable games on this list.

1 Subnautica - Horrifying underwater exploration

Steam User Rating: 96%

This survival game is unique for its entirely underwater environments; marooned on an alien ocean planet, players must explore the depths of Subnautica's open world in order to salvage technology from their crashed spaceship and gather enough resources to survive.

Subnautica begins as a passive, slow-paced experience, but as players research new technologies and gain access to exploration tools such as the game's various vehicles, the deeper, darker territories of Subnautica's ocean become available to the player, where the game's horror elements come into play.

MORE: Best Indie Cyberpunk Games